Grisly Trophies: Severed Hands and the Egyptian Military Reward System
All visitors to the massive New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1069 BCE)1 temples in Thebes (modern Luxor; see fig. 1) are bombarded with images of the king smiting foreign enemies, expanding his imperial borders, and overseeing the spoils of war. The texts and reliefs tell us that this booty generally includes...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
2021
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| In: |
Near Eastern archaeology
Year: 2021, Volume: 84, Issue: 3, Pages: 192-199 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Egypt (Antiquity)
/ Thebes (Egypt)
/ Geschichte 1450 v. Chr.
/ War
/ Trophy
/ Trophy (Siegeszeichen)
/ Hand
/ Gold
/ Hyksos
B Tell ad-Daba |
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament TC Pre-Christian history ; Ancient Near East |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | All visitors to the massive New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1069 BCE)1 temples in Thebes (modern Luxor; see fig. 1) are bombarded with images of the king smiting foreign enemies, expanding his imperial borders, and overseeing the spoils of war. The texts and reliefs tell us that this booty generally includes livestock, goods, weapons, and prisoners of war, but the grisliest element by far is the enormous mounds of severed hands being piled and counted before the seated king (fig. 2). Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1450 BCE) private tomb autobiographies of soldiers indicate that warriors would have presented these trophies as a record of their kills and were rewarded with the so-called gold of valor in a public ceremony (fig. 3).2 Indeed, we even have tomb reliefs and statues of individuals commemorating their receipt of this award. Yet this military custom seems to have appeared fully realized in Egypt during Ahmose’s war with the Hyksos, with few clues as to its origin (Candelora 2019c; Matić 2019: 41-42; Abdalla 2005; Stefanović 2003; Lorton 1974: 57-68). Beyond that, no archaeological evidence of this practice had been found—that is, until 2011 when the excavations at Tell el-Dab‘a uncovered four pits containing the remains of sixteen severed right hands just outside a Hyksos palace., Map by Danielle Candelora., Recording severed hands from a Libyan campaign at Medinet Habu Temple. Photograph by Danielle Candelora., Ramose bedecked in his Gold of Valor. Photograph by Danielle Candelora., |
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| ISSN: | 2325-5404 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Near Eastern archaeology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1086/716230 |